Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Minister for General Education and Employment V. Sivankutty criticised the council for its decision to give Hindi names to English-medium books, saying that it was a severe irrational judgement to give Hindi titles to NCERT English-medium textbooks. Additionally, he charged the national government with “cultural imposition” and of “undermining the nation’s linguistic variety”.

“It is absolutely wrong to change the English titles that have been used for decades to respect linguistic diversity and instil a sensitive approach in the minds of children and to shift the focus to Hindi titles like Mridang and Santoor,” the state minister said on Monday.

The Minister said that Kerala is dedicated to preserving linguistic variety and prioritising regional cultural independence, much like other non-Hindi speaking states. He said that this NCERT judgement went against both federal ideals and constitutional norms.

“Children’s perspective and imagination are shaped by the titles of textbooks, which are more than simply names. Sivankutty maintained that English-medium pupils should be given English titles.

Minister Sivankutty called on all states to band together against such imposed restrictions and for the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to reconsider and revoke this decision. According to the minister, education should empower people and foster agreement rather than be a tool for imposing one’s will.

NCERT just announced the updated book titles for a number of courses. Books in Classes 1 and 2 are now called “Mridang”, while a book in Class 3 is called “Santoor”. The English textbook for Class 6 is now called Poorvi instead of Honeysuckle.

The linguistic dispute has been rekindled by the recent name changes, as some state ministers, especially those from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, have accused the federal government of attempting to “impose Hindi” on schoolchildren via the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP). MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, has previously accused the federal government of “imposing Hindi” and said that it has refused to provide state schools specific monies because they have refused to use the three-language formula in the NEP.